Figuring Out the Stuff Between the Beginning and the End

The Peanuts Movie

It’s hard to say what demographic these filmmakers were shooting for with The Peanuts Movie. Were they aiming at small children, as most animated features do? Or were they aiming for the two or three generations worth of Peanuts fans that grew up reading the daily comic strips and watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special year after year?

I’m sure they were going for both crowds. The movie contained the kind of humor and sight gags that could make any kid laugh. But it also threw in a ton of throwbacks to classic Peanuts running jokes and stories. Were you hoping to see Lucy freak out when Snoopy licks her face? We’ve got that. Did you want to see Snoopy go after the Red Baron? We’ve got that, too. How about Charlie Brown running to kick a football and falling flat on his back? Yep, got that, too. Anything you’d want to see in a Peanuts movie, you pretty much see in this one.

The story is a basic plot of Charlie Brown crushing on the unnamed Little Red Head Girl and trying to get her to notice him. Spoiler alert: she does notice him. But then he gets friendzoned. He doesn’t know it, but that’s what happens when she refers to Charlie Brown as “pen pal.”

Lucy’s still giving out unlicensed psychiatric advice for five cents per session. That’s risky in this day and age. People are way too lawsuit happy for her to be acting as a therapist without a license. Sure, that co-pay is fantastic, but she gives out bad advice or prescribes the wrong dosage on some kid’s ADHD meds, and her life is kind of down the toilet.

Seriously, though, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought the animation was beautifully done and it was just a lot of fun to watch. If you’re feeling nostalgic, it’s definitely worth the price of admission.